Digital Chicks Has ONE Opening!!

May 16 - 18, 2008  

One student had to cancel out of the Digital Chicks workshop leaving one place open for this ladies only event.  I know that others have inquired about the event but were told it was sold out.  I don't have a waiting list. 

If you want to attend please register today.  The hotel has told me that they will hold this room for only a few days.

Registrations will be accepted on a first come first served basis. 

Canadian Rockies Workshop Sells Out!!

Second session has been added. 

The Canadian Rockies Workshop isn't until September yet it sold out early.  Due to overwhelming response, I have added a second session. 

The two sessions are now..

• September 10 - 14 (Wednesday - Sunday) SOLD OUT
• September 14 - 18 (Sunday - Thursday)  Registration Open

Become Active in Your Local Camera Club

One of the best ways to learn more about photography is to become active in your local camera club.  For readers in the North Texas area I've compiled a list of some of the local clubs.  Take a moment to look one up and attend a meeting.  I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

Photography In The Storm

Everyone is attracted to different subject for photography and one area I've always wanted to explore is storm photography.  I don't want to chase tornados but I find some storms absolutely intriguing. 

Last weeks storms gave me the first opportunity to get my feet wet (pardon the pun) with lightning photography using a specially built lightning sensor.  This is really too cool for words.  I'll write more about this technique when I've had more opportunities to work with it.   

All too often people put their camera's away when it starts to rain but some of the best photographs are captured when the weather is changing.  I'm not talking about chasing lightning - that's very dangerous and you have to learn about the hazards and respect the power of nature. 

Don't get discouraged by passing rain showers.  This shot in Arches National Park was captures only a few hours after storms rumbled through the area. 

This reflection is in a small puddle at the end of a parking lot and at any other time would be bone dry.  Instead, it filled with water creating a perfect reflection.  

Read about lightning safety on the NOAA website.

..."lightning routinely kills more people each year than tornadoes and hurricanes COMBINED".

Creative Flash

Photographers have borrowed many studio lighting techniques to help with flash photography.  In a studio, a photographer uses light modifiers such as umbrellas, reflectors and light boxes to change the quality of light produced by studio strobes.  These same products can be used with smaller flash units.

You can find a wide variety of light modifies available in your local camera store and online; each producing a different quality of light and, unfortunately, some more effective than others. 

Built into many flash units, you can find diffusers that help spread the light.  This allows for the use of wider angle lenses and also helps provide a more balanced light when used in an enclosed area where the light can bounce off the walls and ceiling.  These same units may also include pop-up bounce cards that will help bounce more light toward the subject.  Such cards effectively produce catch lights on many subjects.

Many of these light bouncing techniques can be used while the flash is attached to the camera.  The flash head can usually rotate horizontally and tilt vertically allowing you to direct the flash toward a reflective surface.

Another effective option that can be added to the flash is an off-camera cord, allowing full TTL operation off the camera.  Such a cord gives you incredible creative freedom.  By moving the flash away from the camera, you are able to accentuate the texture of the subject as well as provide a sense of depth in your composition.   

In the image above, Griff is in the window, illuminated by a flash unit held off camera using an off-camera cord.  I have also set the zoom on the flash to manual and 120mm.  Not all flashes offer this feature but it's shots like this one that makes the extra cost worth it.

To set up this photo I set my ambient light exposure so that it will under expose the building.  I set my Canon 580 EX flash to ETTL, attached to an off camera cord.  The flash zoom was set manually to its longest focal length - 120mm but I used a wide angle lens to ensure that the flash did NOT cover the entire scene.

My camera was on a tripod so it was easy to frame the image and then control where I pointed the flash, holding it as far from the camera as the cord would allow. 

The flash exposure is set by the camera and is based upon the subject at the currently active focus point so it's important to ensure that the focus point is set directly on your subject.